Forum Discussion

bcs001's avatar
bcs001
Sophomore
6 years ago
Solved

Streaming Video Constant Buffering

I know this has been addressed in a variety of previous posts but I haven’t really seen a good explanation. Using Netflix or Amazon Prime in the evenings, the stream stops to buffer every few minutes....
buffering
Performance
streaming
  • GabeU's avatar
    GabeU
    6 years ago
    bcs001 wrote:
    I am considering setting up a home network PC based server that possibly could be used as the recording device and then fed to my Smart TV thru an Ethernet connection.  

    If your smart TV or some other connected media device, such as a Blu Ray player, has a USB port, you may be able to watch the downloaded items via USB flash drive or external HDD/SSD as well.  This is what I do.  I've got all of my PlayOn Cloud files written to a 1TB external SSD.  Though I dind't know it until I tried, my smart TV has a built in file playing app which plays the .mp4 format of the PlayOn Cloud files, as does my Blu Ray player. 

     

    I also write the files to DVDs and/or Blu Rays for more permanent storage.

bcs001's avatar
bcs001
Sophomore
6 years ago
Thanks for the detailed explanations guys.....that really help me understand what’s going on. When I had ViaSat service I was experiencing buffering because of speed issues (less than .25 down in the evenings GS) which is what made me change to Hughes. While the Hughes speeds are consistently high, I’m assuming my still slow internet performance is mainly a function of this same latency and network congestion that is affecting the streaming. Unfortunately where I’m located, satellite is my only option for now so I will have to learn to tolerate it.
Thanks again.
maratsade's avatar
maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV
6 years ago

Some of us use PlayOn Cloud, an app available for Android and iOS. It lets you download stuff from several providers (Hulu, Prime, Netflix, and more). Each download costs 25 cents. The app works like a virtual DVR -- it records from the cloud (using no data), and then you download the recordings (this uses data) as MP4 files. You can keep the files forever.  There is zero buffering because you're watching a recording.